University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 1995 The ra chaeology of masculinity: the process of personal archaeology in the creative arts Lindsay James Duncan University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Duncan, Lindsay James, The ra chaeology of masculinity: the process of personal archaeology in the creative arts, Doctor of Creative Arts thesis, Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, 1995. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/934 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MASCULINITY The Process of Personal Archaeology in the Creative Arts UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONC LIBRARY A written submission in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of DOCTOR OF CREATIVE ARTS from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by LINDSAY JAMES DUNCAN BA, MCA FACULTY OF CREATIVE ARTS 1995 CERTIFICATION I certify that this work has not been submitted for a degree to any other university or institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference has been made in the text. Lindsay James Duncan 2 August 1995 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF MASCULINITY — The Process of Personal Archaeology in the Creative Arts. ABSTRACT Contemporary gender studies reveal the evolution of a plurality of masculinities since World War Two. The associated social change surrounding masculinity has demanded a re-evaluation of gender roles by Western men who, historically, have not been encouraged to be introspective about their emotional development. However, when compelled by circumstances to examine some of the forces which have moulded their lives and which keep them in bondage they become aware that the traditional values surrounding patriarchal politics, women, war, religion and death are no longer adequate. A major factor in this inadequacy is that traditional role models have been superseded by those projected by Hollywood and the mass media. The evolution of new role models has led to confusion and uncertainty about the definition of masculinity and what it is to be a man. To make sense of their personal identity and the construction of their masculinity some men embark on a process of personal archaeology. This is the theme of the research for The Archaeology of Masculinity which examines the heroic role played by fathers and other men in boys' lives. The creative work and the explication of it in the documentation deal with the broad issue of the construction of masculinity by addressing the specific relationships between incest and sexual abuse, dysfunctional father-son relations, and the construct of sexual preference within a particular historical and cultural context. It also reveals some of the unrealistic standards of unattainable masculine ideals promoted in popular Western culture. The thesis is both autobiographical and generalised and has been articulated in four exhibitions. Central to the work is an analysis of the therapeutic content of the creative process. To some degree all art draws on the subconscious for inspiration. However, autobiographical art specifically objectifies emotions and sub-conscious feelings and is often self-revealing to the artist after the work is completed. Such unveiling of repressed knowledge can be cathartic, and this dissertation provides a case history where a fuller understanding of the effects of early childhood trauma was reached through a process of creative therapy. FOR MY FATHER CLEMENT FREIR DUNCAN 1916—1988 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements Prologue 1 Methodology 1 2 Autobiography 4 3 Overview 10 4 Port Kembla—Growing Up Masculine 15 5 Masculinity and Cultural Changes Since the 1950s 29 6 Unattainable Ma.sculine Ideals—Aspiring To Be Heroic 39 7 Hero Fathers and Other Role Models 56 8 Secrets—The Perversion of Childhood 75 9 Revelations—Repressed Knowledge 99 10 Conclusion 120 Appendix Technical and Exhibition Details 124 List of Plates 128 References 129 PROLOGUE If any reader is offended by any of the details recorded in this dissertation in the account of my childhood, I apologi.se. This is not my intention. Some family and friends may well consider that I do not have the right to 'make public' some of the events which impinge on my life. However, the intention is to record my perceptions of the way things were as I grew up in order to make sense of the outcome. Sometimes it has been a painful process. However, it has been essential for me. I have reclaimed the rights which were mine. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The support from my family, friends and colleagues over the past seven years of this research is not able to be adequately acknowledged in a paragraph or two, and to simply include all my supporters in an alphabetical listing of fifty names would be similarly inadequate, because even then I would be sure to omit someone by mistake. So, a general thanks to everyone on whom my research impinged in any way—the readers and advisers, the admirers and the critics, the clients and all the others. There are some special friends who have remained faithful, despite the neglect when I've been at my busiest. I appreciate them and value them even more than before. More specific thanks must be noted for a few particular people. Bert Flugelman, my supervisor, guided me with his mature creative wisdom. Without his advice I may still have been wrestling with the problem of the correct scale for my sculptures. Sue Rowley gave me untiring support with my writing. She guided me through the toughest times of despair. I have been privileged to have had such a mentor, whose brilliance with the written word has been generously shared. Dr Jose Aerts, Dr Rosemary Auchmuty, Dr Jim Falk, Dr Dorothy Jones, and Dr Darien Midwinter read the drafts and offered invaluable advice. Peter Shepherd has supported me in every way. This type of project is, at times, all-consuming and insular. His mentoring and love are 'unspeakable' and constant. Heidi Duncan has been my inspiration to keep going when I wanted to give up. I hope my example is a good one for her to follow. Chris Jordan helped repair the damage—Sue Cribb sowed the seed to first consider the damage. Michael Young and Min Ho You recorded the objects and events on film. Ivan Englund inspired me to make pots and Maud David taught me to pack kilns. And my father and mother gave me the start. Chapter 1 METHODOLOGY Within the context of contemporary gender studies this research is about the construction of masculinities and men's self concepts. It examines father-son relationships, male relationships with other males, and male child sexual abuse. The research has been approached autobiographically, so much of the writing is in the first person. I work professionally both as a psychologist and as an artist and the early motivation for this research came from my observations as a psychotherapist. The submission consists of ceramic sculptures and a written dissertation. During the research period I have had four major exhibitions which are documented photographically in the dissertation. The writing traces the creative processes and the development of the work for the exhibitions and analyses the finished sculptures. It also provides the theoretical bai*e for the overall research. As indicated by the title of this research, The Archaeology of Masculinity—The Process of Personal Archaeology in the Creative Arts, archaeology is a primary theme of the submission. There are three main components to be considered—the construction of the written dissertation, the exhibition design and the personal development which occurred during the research period. All three areas use the archaeological metaphor, each being treated as an archaeological site to explore the developmental journey of an artist and his masculinity through making art, and through written analysis of the processes. As a "personal archaeology" it assembles the fragments which denote the layers of a personal history. The major exhibition Archaeologies—Images, Vestiges and Shadows in 1992 made the most direct references to scientific archaeology, using actual drawings and artefacts from archaeological digs to inform the general theme. However, in contrast to this grand statement about past cultures, the central ceramics installation of the exhibition was about personal introspection and contemplation. It was physically located in the middle of the large gallery space, as an inner sanctum that enclosed the viewer and surrounded him or her with intimate, personal icons of masculinity, giving an overpowering sense of the mystery of a personal narrative. The objects were enclosed in glass museum cases, arranged to suggest a 1 progression across time, as in traditional archaeological displays. A more detailed explanation of these works appears in Chapter 8. The narrative of the subsequent exhibition Reliquaries was a much more subtle display of a personal journey, still focusing on the archaeological metaphor but offering a distillation of the overall theme of the research. Far removed from the formality of glass museum cases, the small objects contained in wooden boxes marked with a few words of text demonstrated the 'less is more' principle, leaving space for the contemplative viewer to read himself or herself into the story. The written text was treated similarly, as an archaeological site selectively divided into areas of investigation, in the same way that grids mark out a fresh area of land for excavation to unearth a past culture. Within these theoretical grids some layers of information that surfaced during the research were discarded while other material was reserved for special consideration. There was a process of moving from the general to the specific. For example, in covering a range of aspects of twentieth century western masculinity, feminism, although a rich and significant influence on the topic, received minimal space in favour of including such things as the changing trends in representations of men in advertising and some of the cultural pressures involved in being a man.